Letters to the Editor Saturday

This is in response to Diane Oxnard’s letter of Dec. 19. My father was a detective in another state and I briefly served in law enforcement.

It was the last two paragraphs of her letter that bothered me.

Oxnard implies it is bad for children to be exposed to law-abiding, armed security in their schools.

My father always lamented that when people call 911, most of the time, someone is already dead or injured. In too many cases, had that person been willing and able to defend themselves, the only victim would have been the attacker.

Personally, having a concealed carry has kept me from being a victim three times, yet I never had to shoot anyone, or even point a pistol at anyone. Just making the attacker aware that I was armed and willing to defend myself was enough.

Oxnard suggests establishing a national database of gun owners. This would not work because most people would not register, and it would be unenforceable.

ART PATTON

Bloomingdale

Governments shaking down property owners

It’s hunting season again — tax revenue hunting season, that is.

It’s also the time when some of our elected bureaucrats (city council members, county commissioners and school board members) consider how to spread tax revenues among all the various essential and non-essential government agencies.

Many governmental bodies have become quite adept at raising tax revenue without imprudently risking the ire of taxpayers.

For example, early last year, the city of Statesboro, Bulloch County commissioners and the Bulloch County Board of Education all announced there would be no millage rate increase.

However, when I received my property tax bill in the fall, I noticed that my property valuation had miraculously increased, even though I had made no improvements to my property.

Additionally, some homes in my neighborhood were selling for far less than their original cost.

After years of feeding at the federal and state trough, local governments gorged themselves, adding employees, services, cars, trucks and property that exceeded the revenue-generating ability of their local tax base. Now that the flow of funds from Washington and Atlanta has decreased, local governments are struggling to preserve the glory days.

Apparently, according to friends and acquaintances living elsewhere in the state, this may be a common phenomenon.

J. WAYNE COLLINGSWORTH

Statesboro

Media watchdogs fail to do their jobs

A much smarter person than I expressed the following: In politics, what is real is not important. The important is what appears to be real to the gullible, and what appears to be real is purveyed by the media and purchased by the gullible.

I feel this is what we have today: A media that is so far on one side that their obligation of “due diligence” regarding the real conditions and ambitions of this administration are flawed.

One example is the truth regarding Obamacare. We were told we can keep our doctor, but that’s not true in all cases. There will be no death panels, but they are in the law. There are taxes for everybody in Obamacare. So much for no taxes on the middle class.

Not one of the aforementioned burdens were exposed by the mainstream press. If you look at the bylines in this paper, you will see the majority of the articles are from The Associated Press, a left-leaning news group.

True journalism is dead.

RALPH M.PEREIRA

Savannah

City Council should vote on speech measure

It’s a new year, but old politics remain as long as corporations have unlimited power to influence elections.

When money is considered equivalent to free speech, the average citizen has little chance in Congress.

Instead of coming ready to serve their districts, our elected representatives come in debt to corporate entities that bankroll their campaigns and expect payoff in approved legislation.

Last year our local group, Real Citizens United, in concert with Move to Amend and Coffee Party Savannah, presented a resolution in support of the amendment clarifying that corporations are not people to the city council. There was also a petition signed by more than 900 Savannah residents.

To the council’s credit, our resolution had broad support. All that remains is for Mayor Edna Jackson to call the vote.

To see this resolution pass here will be gratifying. Savannah played a historic role in the Revolutionary War, freeing us from a king who exploited the colonists aided by powerful enterprises like the East India Tea Company.

It’s time for Savannah to tell Washington that we won’t stand for a government dominated by corporations who demand the rights of personhood, but refuse responsibility beyond what they exploit for personal gain.

LOUISE FRAZIER

Savannah

‘Gun-free zones’ should be historical footnotes

The emphasis on more gun control in the wake of the Newtown massacre is yet again misplaced.

People are clamoring for more laws to restrict gun ownership. I find this to be very ironic considering Connecticut has some of the strictest gun laws in the nation. The incident is tragic, as is any loss of life, especially when those losses are children.

However, in this case, the issue is not easy access to weapons. The rifle used in this horrendous crime was stolen by this psychopath from a lawful gun owner’s home before he went on his massacre.

This is not an issue about assault rifles, high-capacity magazines or ammunition.

This is an issue of a mentally disturbed individual who should have been stopped well before he got to the point that he slaughtered 20 innocent children.

Our vaunted mental health system that the left pushes as the cure for everything from bullying to reforming child molesters has failed again and again.

The solution to this problem is to make “gun-free zones” a footnote in the history of this country. It has been proven time and time again that armed and properly trained individuals can and have prevented violent crimes.

Had there been only one armed person to confront the shooter, how many of these children and teachers would still be alive?

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yet he just gave himself secret service protection for life. I do believe he thinks his hide is worth more than ours.
A question for those of you who worship BO, what do you think of your Hero now that you know hes only interested in looking after himself and could care less about you and the rest of us?

read what you just posted. In no way does it disagree with what I posted. You must think your a lawyer the way you want to twist words around. Give it up. Bush would be without it, and so would obamie. except that obamie now has shown that he thinks his life is more inportant than any of us. While he takes care of himself, he is only paying lip service about looking after us. Nothing he has came up with will change anything except give the government more power. And that Nit Wit that he task with coming up with a plan prob. would look down the wrong end of the gun if he tried to use one.